The Strange and Wonderful Career of Hilary Swank

The newest issue of Entertainment Weekly hit my mailbox today, and in it was an interesting blurb by Sean Smith that I thought was relevant, as Amelia hits theaters today.
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"By many measures, Hilary Swank should not have a career. Despite two Oscars, she's almost impossible to cast in mainstream films. She doesn't play "the girl" opposite Will Smith or hop a pirate ship with Johnny Depp. She is not Megan Fox. "Her look and her demeanor are not soft," says one industry exec, "so it's hard to see her as vulnerable or as a love object." (Remember, P.S. I Love You didn't exactly rock the world.) And yet, Swank, 35, has scored some of the finest roles for women her age - a transgender murder victim in Boys Don't Cry, a boxer in Million Dollar Baby, and now aviation legend Amelia Earhart in Amelia. While other actresses are relegated to decorative roles opposite male A-listers, Swank - like Jodie Foster before her - is always at the center of her films. (And in the right project, she's capable of filling theaters: Baby brought in $217 million worldwide.) She's the hero, not the heroine. And that could keep her flying high in Hollywood."

I don't think Swank gets enough credit. Sure, Amelia is by most accounts a stinker, and Swank is probably part of the problem. She needs just the right kind of role to shine, and it's a lot easier to love an actress who's great in everything. But I have to give her a pat on the back for being courageous. She doesn't always have to look pretty onscreen, she doesn't need a conventional love story, and she's never relied on big, dramatic "Oscar scenes" to showcase her talent. Her best work is in quiet, subtle moments - something Amelia probably doesn't have a lot of. I have faith though. I think we'll see greatness from her again. Eventually.

Amelia Vanishes from Awards Radar

Yeeeeeaaaaahh. Well, Amelia isn't looking like a winner. It's sitting at a 20% over at RT, so I think it's safe to say we won't be seeing much of it come awards season. Ah well, there are always disappointments, and Fox Searchlight's been hiding it away like some sort of shameful secret, so it's not too big a loss. Hilary Swank's Best Actress hopes are shot, so there's still a bit of a race for the two slots that aren't filled by sure-things Mulligan, Streep and Sidibe.

Since you'll have some free time this weekend when you're not watching Amelia, check out this week's rental suggestion, Monsoon Wedding, a Mira Nair film that is all kinds of fantastic.

News Of Amelia

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As you might know, I'm a believer in Hilary Swank. I think she's a very talented actress who happens to make some really crappy decisions every once in a while. Okay, often. But when she's on, she is on.
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So I've had pretty high hopes for Mira Nair's upcoming Amelia Earhart biopic, which is out this Friday. It's been kept tightly under wraps by Fox Searchlight so far, but it seems like they're finally letting a few people get a look at the film, and word is mixed.
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The Hollywood Reporter had the following to say about Swank's performance:
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"Freckle-faced, prairie-voiced and fiercely independent, Hilary Swank's depiction of aviator Amelia Earhart in Mira Nair's biographical film "Amelia" is of a high order. It ranks with recent real-life portrayals of Ray Charles by Jamie Foxx and Truman Capote by Philip Seymour Hoffman and could be similarly awards-bound."
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But then there's this from Variety:

"But it's Swank who must shoulder the heaviest thesping burden, and her Amelia remains earthbound. An actress who does her best work in plain-spoken, contempo working-class roles, Swank is a decent physical match for her subject, and her slightly androgynous appearance here underscores Earhart's standing as a woman among men. But the character's passion hasn't been sufficiently dramatized (this Amelia likes to fly planes because the script says so), and every effort to transform Swank -- the close-cropped blonde hair, the '30s costumes designed by Kasia Walicka Maimone, the actress' wobbly Kansas accent -- ends up feeling like one fussy affectation on top of another."

So I'm not really sure what to think. I guess I'm still planning to catch it this weekend, but I hope to hear more good things than bad in the next few days.

Too Funny

Remember that video interview I posted with Penelope Cruz a couple of weeks ago? Sure you do. Remember when she said:

"I think everybody has a little breakdown after the Oscars. I had mine...After the ceremony, I, I had this need to go to...just eat cheeseburgers after the ceremony. I, I, in the gown and the whole thing you just have the, the need to do something that is completely the opposite, you know, kind of...event. We went to In-and-Out in the dress and in the drive-thru."

I thought that was such an awesome thing for her to admit, but apparently she is not the only woman who has felt that way after attending the Academy Awards.
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Shortly after I posted that video I found this picture of Hilary Swank after her 2004 win for Million Dollar Baby, chowing down on a cheeseburger. She's still in the dress and everything! Amazing.

Best Actress, 2004

You may or may not have noticed that I've been watching and profiling the films that had Best Actress nominees back in 2004 over the past week or so. In my reading about this year's Oscar contenders, I've come across a number of people who feel that not one, but BOTH of Hilary Swank's Oscar wins have been undeserved.

As someone who thinks she does great work given the right material, I was a little surprised. So I decided to revisit her most recent win and decide for myself, after watching all the nominated performances, whether or not she deserved to take the Academy Award home that year. Here are my thoughts.

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Annette Bening in Being Julia
This was the only performance of the five that I had not seen when I started this project last week. Annette Bening is always a wonder to watch, and this is no exception. She plays Julia Lambert, an actress who becomes bored with stardom and looks to fill the void in her life with an affair. Bening is terrifically funny in a rather boring film, and has a joyful presence that helps her handily outclass the rest of the cast. She plays a few characters here, in a sense, as an actor playing an actor always does, but I don't feel like the part asked much of her. It's a light film, and I think her performance is less effective because the material doesn't require a true showcase of her enormous range. It's a great and entertaining performance, but it doesn't speak to me on an emotional level. ***/4

Catalina Sandino Moreno in Maria Full of Grace
Catalina Sandino Moreno was one of the last actresses director Joshua Marston came across while casting his film about a Colombian teen who gets involved in drug traficking in the hopes of forming a better life for herself. What a find. Moreno has some beautiful moments here. Her performance rings painfully true, and I found myself wondering about the actress' background. Are there echoes of her real life in the script? I don't know. She is eerily focused during every moment of her performance. Moreno is also fantastic at thinking onscreen. Watch this movie and notice that there is always something going on in her expression. Even in silent scenes she shows an intelligence that is essential in understanding how and why Maria does what she does. I would have expected bigger things to have happened in Moreno's career after this shocking and phenomenal first performance. Hopefully there are more great roles on the way for her. ****/4

Imelda Staunton in Vera Drake
Imelda Staunton is one of my favorite British actresses. Before Mike Leigh's terrific Vera Drake, I'd only seen her in small (yet enormously entertaining) roles. Mrs. Jennings' daughter in Sense and Sensibility. Lady Viola's nurse in Shakespeare in Love. Here, though, she gets the chance to really show off her talent. Vera Drake is a wife and mother in 1950s England. She's a big-hearted woman who helps everyone she can in any way she knows how, including helping women terminate unwanted pregnancies. Staunton plays Vera Drake splendidly. She's a cheerful, happy woman, who we immediately love and support, despite the fact that she performs criminal acts every week. The story and the rest of the characters fall into place specifically because of her performance, which conveys love and heartbreak effortlessly and powerfully. It's the role of a lifetime, and Staunton adds an unsettling dose of humanity to the controversial subject of abortion. ****/4

Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby
Hilary Swank plays Maggie Fitzgerald, a poor waitress from southern Missouri whose dream is to become a prize fighter. She's the only smart and driven member of her hillbilly family, and she won't rest until she makes something of herself with the help of trainer Frankie Dunn. Hilary Swank is perfect. She nails every moment on screen, from Maggie's earnest pursuit of Frankie's help, to her determination in her training, to her heartache as she seeks the love and acceptance of her mother. We feel every bit of hurt and triumph with Maggie, and it's so heartbreaking when the light inside her gets snuffed out that I break into sobs during the third act. Swank's performance packs an emotional blow to rival any knockout punch she throws as Maggie. ****/4

Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Kate Winslet is my favorite actress ever. I mean that. She's been #1 on my list since I was ten years old and no one has ever come close to unseating her. Her role here as Clementine, an unstable woman who erases her boyfriend Joel from her mind, happens to be my favorite of her performances. When Joel decides to have Clementine erased as well, we follow the procedure through his memories of their tumultuous relationship, and Winslet's performance is key. A less capable actress would have been lost not only in the brilliant maze of a screenplay, but in the character's frequent and severe ups and downs. Not Winslet. She's the sole reason the journey through Joel Barish's mind works. We identify with his frustration with the compulsive and exuberant Clementine, and ten minutes later we understand why he fell in love with her in the first place. ****/4



Final thoughts: Though this was an extraordinarily strong year for actresses, this is an easy call for Swank. I think the main reason people are upset about this win is that it makes two times she (deservedly) beat Annette Bening for the Oscar glory. While I agree that Bening is overdue, I don't think Julia Lambert was an Academy Award-worthy role.

Here's how I'd rank them:
1. Swank in Million Dollar Baby
2. Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
3. Staunton in Vera Drake
4. Moreno in Maria Full of Grace
5. Bening in Being Julia

MILLION DOLLAR BABY

Based on short stories by F.X. Toole
Screenplay by Paul Haggis
Directed by Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood
Hilary Swank
Morgan Freeman

Premiere date: December 15, 2004
PG-13 for violence, some disturbing images, thematic material and language.

Frankie Dunn has trained and managed some incredible fighters during a lifetime spent in the ring. The most important lesson he teaches his boxers is the one that rules his life: above all, always protect yourself. In the wake of a painful estrangement from his daughter, Frankie has been unwilling to let himself get close to anyone for a very long time. His only friend is Scrap, an ex-boxer who looks after Frankie's gym and knows that beneath his gruff exterior is a man who has attended Mass almost every day for the past 23 years, seeking the forgiveness that somehow continues to elude him.

Then Maggie Fitzgerald walks into his gym.

In turns exasperating and inspiring each other, Frankie and Maggie come to discover that they share a common spirit that transcends the pain and loss of their pasts, and find in each other a sense of family they lost long ago. What they don't know is that soon they will both face a battle that's going to demand more heart and courage than any they've ever known.

National Board of Review
Special Achievement Award - Clint Eastwood
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7 Academy Award Nominations, 4 Wins
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor - Clint Eastwood
Best Actress - Hilary Swank
Best Supporting Actor - Morgan Freeman
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Film Editing